inventions
Gadgets

Aussie Smart Lid Wins OH&S Award

Gizmodo AU

We reported on the Smart Lid system a couple of years ago; at that time Seamus wasn’t that impressed with it. It turns out that this Aussie invention has impressed somebody, though; it’s just won an occupational health and safety award for best new product.

August 18, 2011
News

Major Patent Milestones From One To Eight Million

The USPTO granted its first patent in 1836 and 175 years later, the government body now has a database that is eight million strong.

August 17, 2011
Science

5 Little-Known Inventions From Deceased Robot Maker George Devol

George Devol (above right) died last week at his home in Connecticut. He invented the Unimate, the first programmable Industrial Robot. But his creative genius did not stop there. Check out these five little-known inventions developed during his long career.

July 14, 2011
Geek Out

The Long And Glorious History Of The Pizza Box

First, man discovered fire. Then a bunch of random stupid unimportant stuff happened. Then, man discovered pizza delivery. And Serious Eats takes it from there, with a fantastic rundown of the evolution of man’s greatest achievement in food transportation.

May 2, 2011
Science

Girl Scout Troop Invents Prosthetic Limb, Helps Toddler Write

While the Boy Scouts might have their ballyhooed robotics badge, it is actually the Girl Scouts who struck first in this pee-wee tech war with a working prosthetic hand that has helped a 3-year-old Iowa girl write with her fingerless hand.

April 28, 2011
News

Teleprompter Inventor Scrolls Up To That Big Newscast In The Sky

In the late 1940s, a young television engineer was called upon to figure out a way for actors to better remember their lines. Hubert “Hub” Schlafly wasted no time with the assignment, devising a motorised scroll in a half-suitcase that was placed just off camera. The teleprompter – and decades of assured newscasts and stump speeches – was born.

April 8, 2011
Gadgets

John Muir: Writer, Environmentalist, Gadget Junkie?

When John Muir’s name comes up, technologically progressive inventor is not the first thing that comes to mind. But as The Atlantic points out, the author and lover of nature dreamed up a few ingenious inventions in his time.

Geek Out

You Owe MIT More Thanks Than You Think You Do

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology turns 150 this weekend! You’re probably thinking – 150? That’s old! Who cares about something so old! What a geezer! – for shame. MIT’s produced the brains behind some of the world’s coolest stuff.

April 5, 2011
Gadgets

I Implore Every Public Bathroom To Install These Toepeners

I’m not saying I’m as bad as Howard Hughes, but I will confess to always tearing a bit of toilet-roll of paper towel off and using it to open public bathroom doors on my way out.

Gadgets

How Nazis Planned To Build The Fourth Reich Using Terror Gadgets

In 1942, a group of Nazi agents landed in Florida in bathing trunks and Wehrmacht caps. Another one landed in Long Island. Meanwhile, in Europe, a secret band of blondes spread all over armed with microbes hidden in handbag mirrors, poison disguised as Bayer aspirins and cigarette lighters that released deadly vapours.

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